2020–21 Estimates

Introduction

In this section

Highlights of these Estimates
Voted Expenditures
Statutory Expenditures
General Information

These Main Estimates are presented in five sections:

Highlights of these Estimates;
General Information about the Estimates process and how to use this document;
Key Summaries of the authorities presented in these Estimates for Parliament’s approval or information;
Detail by Organization on the voted authorities sought through these Estimates, as well as statutory forecasts;
Annex – Items for inclusion in the Proposed Schedules to the Appropriation Bill.

Highlights of these Estimates

Federal departments, agencies and Crown corporations provide programs and services for Canadians. In order for federal government organizations to operate, Parliament must give these organizations authority to spend. While spending is often announced in a federal budget, spending authority is actually granted through legislation passed by Parliament. These Main Estimates present financial requirements for the 2020–21 fiscal year.

Due to the need to table Main Estimates on or by March 1, emerging priorities and items announced in Budget 2020 will be included in future Estimates documents.

Voted Expenditures

These Estimates support the government’s request to Parliament for authority to spend through annual appropriations:

$125.1 billion for budgetary expenditures – operating and capital expenditures; transfer payments to other levels of government, organizations or individuals; and payments to Crown corporations; and
$87.2 million for non-budgetary expenditures – net outlays and receipts related to loans, investments and advances.

These amounts include spending for initiatives announced in prior federal budgets and other funding decisions. Departmental Plans provide details on how these financial resources will be used to achieve planned results.

Of the 122 organizations in these Estimates, 6 are seeking more than $5.0 billion in budgetary expenditures:

Department of National Defence ($21.8 billion);
Department of Indigenous Services ($12.7 billion);
Department of Foreign Affairs, Trade and Development ($7.1 billion);
Treasury Board Secretariat ($6.0 billion);
Office of Infrastructure of Canada ($5.7 billion); and
Department of Veterans Affairs ($5.2 billion).

Statutory Expenditures

Forecasts of statutory spending by departments are included in these Estimates to provide additional information on their total estimated expenditures. Of these forecasts, $179.5 billion is for budgetary expenditures, including the cost of servicing the public debt. This amount does not include benefits paid from the Employment Insurance Operating Account or expenditures legislated through the Income Tax Act (such as the Canada Child Benefit). Net non-budgetary expenditures of $3.0 billion are forecasted for loans, investments and advances.

Significant changes in statutory spending from 2019–20 include:

Increases in major transfer payments (as published in the Economic and Fiscal Update 2019), most notably elderly benefits, fiscal equalization and the Canada Health Transfer;
The introduction of Climate Action Incentive Payments;
A decrease related to the additional one-time transfer to the Gas Tax Fund in 2019–20; and
A decrease in interest on unmatured debt.

Changes in non-budgetary planned expenditures reflect increased incentives for construction of rental housing and the First-Time Home Buyer Incentive.

General Information

In June 2017, the House of Commons approved a motion to change Standing Order 81 to amend the deadline for tabling the Main Estimates to on or before April 16. This change, in effect for the remaining duration of the 42nd Parliament, resulted in the government tabling an Interim Estimates by mid-February to support Parliament’s scrutiny of interim supply, and tabling the Main Estimates in April, after the Federal Budget. With the end of this pilot project, tabling of Main Estimates returns to its normal schedule (by March 1).

Part I of this document, the Government Expenditure Plan, gives an overview of spending requirements for 2020–21 and comparisons to previous fiscal years.

Part II of this document, the Main Estimates, provides information on estimated spending by each federal organization requesting authority to spend through a 2020–21 appropriation bill. Forecasts of statutory spending are included for information purposes.

Part III of the Estimates consists of Departmental Plans and Departmental Results Reports. It is anticipated that the Departmental Plans, which show an organization’s priorities and expected results for the next three years, will be tabled shortly after these Estimates.

For this exercise, the President of the Treasury Board tables this document in Parliament. In addition to the tabled document, the following information is available online:

Budgetary expenditures by standard objects;
Expenditures by program or purpose (core responsibility);
Statutory forecasts; and
Pilot project on a purpose-based vote structure.

The following terminology is used throughout this document:

2018–19 Expenditures refer to the actual expenditures published in the 2019 Public Accounts (Volume II);
2019–20 Estimates to date include the aggregate of the requirements reported in the Main Estimates and Supplementary Estimates A and B of that fiscal year;
Budgetary expenditures include the cost of servicing the public debt; operating and capital expenditures; transfer payments to other levels of government, organizations or individuals; and payments to Crown corporations;
Non-budgetary expenditures – or loans, investments and advances – are outlays that represent changes in the composition of the Government’s financial assets. Negative figures indicate that recoveries exceed expenditures;
Supplementary Estimates present information on additional spending requirements which were either not sufficiently developed in time for inclusion in the Main Estimates, or have subsequently been refined to account for developments in particular programs and services;
Voted describes appropriations or expenditures for which parliamentary authority is sought through an appropriation bill;
Statutory describes appropriations or expenditures which are authorized by Parliament through legislation other than an appropriation act. Forecasts are provided for Parliament’s information.

Summary of Estimates

Table 1. Comparison of Estimates and Expenditures (billions of dollars)
Budgetary
	2018–19 Expenditures	2019–20 Main Estimates	2019–20 Estimates To Date	2020–21 Main Estimates
Voted	109.78	125.61	134.26	125.10
Statutory	167.02	174.03	175.88	179.47
Total Budgetary	276.81	299.64	310.14	304.58
Non-budgetary
Voted	0.02	0.06	0.06	0.09
Statutory	44.60	2.10	2.21	2.96
Total Non-budgetary	44.62	2.15	2.27	3.05
Note: Totals may not add and may not agree with details presented later in this document due to rounding.

The following table displays a ten year comparison for the Main Estimates budgetary voted and statutory components.

Table 2. Long-term comparison of Main Estimates
Budgetary
	2011–12	2012–13	2013–14	2014–15	2015–16	2016–17	2017–18	2018–19	2019–20	2020–21
Voted	91.8	91.9	87.1	86.3	88.2	89.8	102.1	112.9	125.6	125.1
Statutory	138.4	140.3	145.5	149.1	153.4	160.3	155.8	163.1	174.0	179.5
Total Budgetary	230.2	232.3	232.6	235.3	241.6	250.1	257.9	276.0	299.6	304.6
Note: Totals may not add and may not agree with details presented later in this document due to rounding.

Table 3. Composition of Estimates and Expenditures (billions of dollars)
Budgetary
	2018–19 Expenditures	2019–20 Main Estimates	2019–20 Estimates To Date	2020–21 Main Estimates
Transfer Payments	175.09	184.97	190.36	197.53
Operating and capital	79.47	89.98	95.09	84.21
Public Debt	22.24	24.69	24.69	22.84
Total Budgetary	276.81	299.64	310.14	304.58
Non-budgetary
Loans, Investments and Advances	44.62	2.15	2.27	3.05
Total Non-budgetary	44.62	2.15	2.27	3.05
Note: Totals may not add and may not agree with details presented later in this document due to rounding. Note: Totals may not add and may not agree with details presented later in this document due to rounding.Note: Totals may not add and may not agree with details presented later in this document due to rounding.

Composition of Estimates

The majority of expenditures in the 2020–21 Main Estimates are transfer payments – payments made to other levels of government, individuals and other organizations. Transfer payments make up approximately 64.9% of expenditures or $197.5 billion. Operating and capital expenditures account for approximately 27.6% of expenditures or $84.2 billion, while public debt charges are approximately 7.5% of expenditures or $22.8 billion.

Estimates by Organization

122 organizations are represented in the 2020–21 Estimates. More information about each organization can be found in Part II – Main Estimates.

Table 6. Estimates by Organization (dollars)
Budgetary
	2018–19 Expenditures	2019–20 Main Estimates	2019–20 Estimates To Date	2020–21 Main Estimates
Administrative Tribunals Support Service of Canada	69,530,990	63,663,898	64,154,187	72,679,604
Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency	349,597,552	342,608,171	349,520,966	301,015,764
Atomic Energy of Canada Limited	829,233,292	1,197,282,026	1,197,832,026	1,253,935,845
Canada Border Services Agency	2,154,937,683	2,127,230,923	2,197,512,236	2,207,267,835
Canada Council for the Arts	292,790,894	327,644,295	327,771,295	362,644,295
Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation	2,086,437,654	2,657,130,938	2,744,251,250	2,919,967,012
Canada Post Corporation	22,210,000	22,210,000	22,210,000	22,210,000
Canada Revenue Agency	5,121,113,058	4,502,426,186	4,526,961,632	7,939,991,193
Canada School of Public Service	85,235,139	87,677,758	87,677,758	79,687,920
Canadian Accessibility Standards Development Organization	0	0	9,891,190	15,318,432
Canadian Air Transport Security Authority	817,770,631	875,160,294	898,271,254	562,700,000
Canadian Broadcasting Corporation	1,210,831,413	1,210,797,846	1,210,797,846	1,210,797,846
Canadian Centre for Occupational Health and Safety	10,560,048	9,047,301	9,047,301	11,317,140
Canadian Dairy Commission	3,979,440	3,772,890	3,772,890	3,903,550
Canadian Energy Regulator	0	0	2,610,546	79,549,330
Canadian Food Inspection Agency	792,307,291	732,223,231	735,976,622	729,699,296
Canadian Grain Commission	2,153,157	6,141,489	6,141,489	6,593,140
Canadian High Arctic Research Station	24,656,671	32,801,608	32,801,608	31,177,617
Canadian Human Rights Commission	22,712,846	23,186,271	25,786,271	32,497,272
Canadian Institutes of Health Research	1,150,927,127	1,178,621,873	1,200,471,228	1,214,858,650
Canadian Intergovernmental Conference Secretariat	5,270,574	6,143,317	6,143,317	5,956,021
Canadian Museum for Human Rights	25,335,980	26,954,953	26,954,953	25,502,953
Canadian Museum of History	76,246,579	75,630,284	75,630,284	72,188,284
Canadian Museum of Immigration at Pier 21	8,241,303	7,905,183	7,905,183	7,895,183
Canadian Museum of Nature	31,115,297	28,981,201	28,981,201	26,811,201
Canadian Northern Economic Development Agency	45,823,015	65,021,406	67,590,045	64,301,110
Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission	148,923,106	144,645,174	144,645,174	143,834,973
Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission	11,080,444	15,392,486	15,392,486	12,795,674
Canadian Security Intelligence Service	586,607,955	610,280,492	622,434,950	649,930,282
Canadian Space Agency	305,745,600	328,948,576	398,699,053	326,026,417
Canadian Tourism Commission	98,682,907	100,665,913	100,665,913	95,665,913
Canadian Transportation Accident Investigation and Safety Board	32,120,902	33,233,170	33,523,270	33,608,135
Canadian Transportation Agency	33,144,190	34,969,615	38,535,389	32,194,990
Civilian Review and Complaints Commission for the Royal Canadian Mounted Police	9,885,329	11,116,143	11,116,143	10,186,587
Communications Security Establishment	681,655,834	732,958,340	764,101,413	711,781,372
Copyright Board	3,733,598	4,177,804	4,177,804	4,225,668
Correctional Service of Canada	2,589,320,065	2,580,099,841	2,650,251,566	2,553,839,120
Courts Administration Service	85,319,280	92,733,181	94,863,947	92,868,489
Department for Women and Gender Equality	37,489,169	113,960,601	115,925,602	129,807,698
Department of Agriculture and Agri-Food	2,157,945,637	2,499,865,346	2,934,857,612	2,539,411,429
Department of Canadian Heritage	1,409,564,221	1,498,822,394	1,593,517,930	1,535,137,411
Department of Citizenship and Immigration	2,403,858,757	3,187,646,878	3,353,738,110	2,841,179,568
Department of Crown-Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs	0	0	1,276,991,586	4,885,423,507
Department of Employment and Social Development	61,202,150,819	64,769,582,501	65,339,308,107	68,641,745,388
Department of Finance	94,097,710,160	98,966,288,430	98,970,991,470	99,525,062,956
Department of Fisheries and Oceans	3,282,911,070	2,993,996,814	3,369,195,052	3,462,610,345
Department of Foreign Affairs, Trade and Development	7,056,875,302	6,719,692,223	7,361,494,333	7,484,223,417
Department of Health	2,369,749,252	2,521,567,796	2,624,456,658	2,727,759,160
Department of Indian Affairs and Northern Development	4,431,657,305	6,977,875,609	6,977,875,609	0
Department of Indigenous Services	11,587,017,459	12,273,485,207	13,315,377,698	12,812,201,035
Department of Industry	2,276,001,071	2,907,592,281	2,973,676,575	3,050,145,613
Department of Justice	788,807,345	744,519,789	780,186,132	769,017,219
Department of National Defence	21,615,941,912	21,893,161,519	23,153,726,787	23,317,935,718
Department of Natural Resources	1,402,966,977	1,537,677,612	2,538,820,856	1,379,014,593
Department of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness	727,600,440	914,954,615	897,735,805	725,522,972
Department of Public Works and Government Services	3,879,076,634	4,235,436,503	4,441,714,808	4,048,272,019
Department of the Environment	1,393,354,692	1,828,095,018	1,962,992,504	1,982,973,462
Department of Transport	1,228,931,304	1,862,592,831	2,100,765,349	1,899,498,387
Department of Veterans Affairs	4,690,462,953	4,419,994,365	5,275,942,274	5,237,702,254
Department of Western Economic Diversification	242,367,541	305,317,016	310,269,951	274,952,973
Economic Development Agency of Canada for the Regions of Quebec	293,136,844	325,244,540	329,197,937	300,956,458
Federal Economic Development Agency for Southern Ontario	236,705,798	261,500,416	265,967,366	252,156,146
Financial Transactions and Reports Analysis Centre of Canada	51,391,288	55,260,880	56,547,518	56,809,452
House of Commons	487,413,018	503,369,399	520,719,615	516,369,044
Immigration and Refugee Board	158,358,635	223,553,352	223,467,352	279,126,875
Impact Assessment Agency of Canada	47,564,021	74,175,013	72,340,163	76,483,395
International Development Research Centre	140,366,150	142,907,117	142,907,117	141,848,784
International Joint Commission (Canadian Section)	8,502,605	10,347,184	11,249,939	12,298,187
Invest in Canada Hub	10,718,935	36,056,589	36,056,589	34,291,556
Leaders’ Debates Commission	141,793	4,629,699	4,629,699	1
Library and Archives of Canada	124,630,164	159,332,632	164,308,300	136,612,103
Library of Parliament	47,529,391	49,952,016	51,100,298	53,408,759
Marine Atlantic Inc.	125,945,000	152,904,000	155,904,000	55,675,667
Military Grievances External Review Committee	6,309,889	6,801,924	6,801,924	6,883,603
Military Police Complaints Commission	4,775,505	4,756,932	4,756,932	4,802,446
National Arts Centre Corporation	35,439,021	35,270,142	35,270,142	35,270,142
National Capital Commission	109,488,016	136,262,540	136,262,540	90,358,645
National Energy Board	108,105,967	95,354,751	95,354,751	0
National Film Board	70,510,134	68,370,782	68,370,782	64,891,409
National Gallery of Canada	51,461,041	46,613,922	46,613,922	46,673,922
National Museum of Science and Technology	30,242,918	30,842,380	30,842,380	30,567,380
National Research Council of Canada	1,145,203,852	1,186,875,095	1,203,036,983	1,217,256,017
National Security and Intelligence Review Agency Secretariat	0	0	19,523,508	24,284,970
Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council	1,330,149,905	1,362,995,409	1,362,903,251	1,365,315,934
Northern Pipeline Agency	230,481	1,084,070	1,084,070	1,083,120
Office of Infrastructure of Canada	5,654,251,732	10,736,664,953	10,935,587,591	7,860,557,193
Office of the Auditor General	88,001,866	88,238,296	88,238,296	87,906,474
Office of the Chief Electoral Officer	183,748,473	493,235,776	498,079,615	133,680,430
Office of the Commissioner for Federal Judicial Affairs	595,476,569	617,710,000	617,710,000	655,616,954
Office of the Commissioner of Lobbying	5,309,614	4,854,416	4,854,416	4,556,920
Office of the Commissioner of Official Languages	21,902,520	21,680,305	21,680,305	21,517,955
Office of the Communications Security Establishment Commissioner	2,123,396	2,144,935	2,144,935	0
Office of the Conflict of Interest and Ethics Commissioner	6,517,765	7,142,923	7,142,923	7,514,511
Office of the Co-ordinator, Status of Women	34,657,197	0	0	0
Office of the Correctional Investigator of Canada	5,201,287	5,322,796	5,322,796	5,303,610
Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions	196,768,325	204,163,443	202,161,749	200,698,545
Office of the Governor General’s Secretary	23,177,102	23,115,511	23,115,511	23,197,577
Office of the Intelligence Commissioner	0	0	0	2,139,375
Office of the Parliamentary Budget Officer	5,431,405	7,755,698	7,755,698	7,246,196
Office of the Public Sector Integrity Commissioner	5,621,112	5,527,386	5,527,386	5,582,330
Office of the Senate Ethics Officer	1,141,279	1,357,010	1,357,010	1,352,901
Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions	168,283,218	165,419,339	165,419,339	201,055,674
Offices of the Information and Privacy Commissioners of Canada	39,738,792	44,313,302	45,821,624	42,729,974
Parks Canada Agency	1,460,324,164	1,650,543,647	1,678,287,818	1,107,531,851
Parliamentary Protective Service	83,844,538	90,944,466	90,944,466	92,605,109
Parole Board of Canada	49,754,270	47,390,093	49,079,536	47,321,937
Patented Medicine Prices Review Board	10,298,335	16,612,511	16,612,511	17,804,400
Privy Council Office	214,277,265	179,393,468	189,293,468	166,122,913
Public Health Agency of Canada	675,351,991	625,648,161	640,758,771	641,826,715
Public Service Commission	86,565,632	85,459,355	85,459,355	89,802,675
Registrar of the Supreme Court of Canada	37,748,225	36,856,809	36,856,809	37,961,386
Royal Canadian Mounted Police	3,789,228,428	3,549,887,741	3,930,424,091	3,516,515,972
Royal Canadian Mounted Police External Review Committee	2,311,207	3,414,034	4,053,312	3,209,167
Secretariat of the National Security and Intelligence Committee of Parliamentarians	3,632,272	3,490,728	3,490,728	3,549,666
Security Intelligence Review Committee	4,992,553	5,154,817	5,154,817	0
Senate	96,090,131	114,188,759	114,188,759	115,563,738
Shared Services Canada	1,847,809,063	1,902,509,890	2,127,558,553	2,055,177,130
Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council	873,129,828	930,513,615	941,908,069	977,050,285
Standards Council of Canada	17,973,672	17,910,000	17,910,000	18,321,000
Statistics Canada	507,744,090	495,949,806	513,281,565	615,448,697
Telefilm Canada	101,898,978	101,878,949	109,378,949	101,878,949
The Federal Bridge Corporation Limited	3,463,982	0	0	0
The Jacques-Cartier and Champlain Bridges Inc.	166,797,775	296,580,451	322,063,784	327,620,136
The National Battlefields Commission	10,858,717	9,326,814	9,326,814	8,890,515
Treasury Board Secretariat	6,155,857,445	7,059,294,572	7,588,422,275	6,035,736,785
Veterans Review and Appeal Board	9,906,100	10,911,155	10,911,155	10,957,720
VIA Rail Canada Inc.	496,246,801	731,594,011	732,794,011	546,909,001
Windsor-Detroit Bridge Authority	330,500,000	802,476,546	831,733,625	778,634,323
Total Budgetary	276,805,954,349	299,642,646,696	310,141,662,007	304,577,541,941
Non-budgetary
Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation	(590,799,778)	954,899,667	954,899,667	1,880,450,574
Canadian Dairy Commission	4,519,334	0	0	0
Department of Citizenship and Immigration	6,817,034	0	0	0
Department of Crown-Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs	0	0	0	25,903,000
Department of Employment and Social Development	1,286,977,547	1,073,709,062	1,188,500,746	1,017,492,886
Department of Finance	43,877,471,677	51,400,000	51,400,000	50,200,000
Department of Foreign Affairs, Trade and Development	8,401,786	17,000,001	17,000,001	71,140,001
Department of Indian Affairs and Northern Development	13,530,185	56,303,000	56,303,000	0
Department of Industry	0	800,000	800,000	800,000
Department of National Defence	6,578,674	0	0	0
Department of Public Works and Government Services	4,282,463	0	0	0
Department of Veterans Affairs	(1,807)	0	0	0
Total Non-budgetary	44,617,777,115	2,154,111,730	2,268,903,414	3,045,986,461

Structure of these Estimates

The basic structural units of the Estimates are the votes. The following types of votes appear in the Estimates:

A program expenditures vote is used when there is no requirement for either a separate “capital expenditures” vote or a “grants and contributions” vote because neither equals or exceeds $5 million. In this case, all expenditures are charged to a single vote.

An operating expenditures vote is used when there is also a requirement for either a “capital expenditures” vote or a “grants and contributions” vote or both – that is, when expenditures of either type equal or exceed $5 million. Otherwise, the expenditures are included in the "program expenditures" vote.

A capital expenditures vote is used when the aggregate of capital expenditures equals or exceeds $5 million. Capital expenditures are those made for the acquisition or development of items that are classified as tangible capital assets as defined by government accounting policies, for example: for the acquisition of real property, infrastructure, machinery or equipment, or for purposes of constructing or developing assets, where an organization expects to draw upon its own labour and materials, or employs professional services or other services or goods. Expenditure items in a capital expenditures vote are for items that generally exceed $10,000, although an organization may select a reduced threshold to be applied to different capital classes.

Grants and contributions are payments made for the purpose of furthering program objectives but for which no goods or services are received. A grants and contributions vote is used when grants and/or contributions expenditures equal or exceed $5 million. It should be noted that the inclusion of a grant, contribution or other transfer payment item in the Estimates imposes no requirement to make a payment, nor does it give a prospective recipient any right to the funds. It should also be noted that in the vote wording, the meaning of the word “contributions” is considered to include “other transfer payments”.

A non-budgetary vote, identified by the letter “L” preceding the vote number, provides authority for spending in the form of loans or advances to, and investments in, Crown corporations; and loans or advances for specific purposes to other governments, international organizations or persons or corporations in the private sector.

The government must also establish separate votes for each distinct legal entity and to make payments to Crown corporations. Where this is the case, a separate vote structure is established for each. A legal entity for these purposes is defined as a unit of government operating under an act of Parliament and responsible directly to a Minister.

To support the Treasury Board in performing its statutory responsibilities for managing the government’s financial, human and materiel resources, a number of special votes are required. These votes are described under Treasury Board Secretariat in the Proposed Schedules to the Appropriation Bill.

Changes to these Estimates

Changes to Voted Authorities

The following new or amended authorities are sought through the Appropriation Act for these Estimates:

The Department of Finance is amending the wording of Vote 5 to limit the maximum amount of financial assistance to the International Development Association for the 2020–21 fiscal year;
The Department of Foreign Affairs, Trade and Development is amending the wording of Votes 20 and L25 to limit the maximum amount of financial assistance to international financial institutions for the 2020–21 fiscal year. The Department is also adding Vote L30 for loans under the International Financial Assistance Act; and
The Department of National Defence is increasing the authority for total commitments in Votes 1, 5 and 10 to $35,739,116,105.

Notes on Information Presented in 2020–21 Budgetary Expenditures by Standard Object

Interest payments relating to capital leases are included under "Public debt charges". These payments are voted expenditures and are not included under the "Public Debt" heading on the Composition of Estimates and Expenditures table.

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Date modified:: 2020-02-27

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